For the better part of a week, Shandy Schroder had a moose hunt that many would have described as miserable. The weather was foul. And the moose didn’t cooperate.

“Come the end of the week, everyone starts wondering,” the Bangor woman said. “I never said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to get a moose.’ I kind of tried to stay positive and said, ‘I’m not going to see anything if I’m not out there hunting.’

On Tuesday it rained. On Wednesday her rifle scope broke. On Friday the remnants of a tropical storm rolled through.

And still, she left the comfortable Ludlow camp she and her husband, Matthew, own, and went hunting.

“Rain, shine, mud, tired, hungry, I went out there,” she said.

Friday, she said, was the worst day of the week.

“I couldn’t have been any wetter if I had fallen in the pond. I was soaked. But I was still out there, every day,” she said.

When Saturday, the final day of her six-day season, dawned brighter — and without rain — Schroder rose early … again … and headed back into the woods, hoping for the best.

Every so often I am reminded that I know some pretty talented people and some of them I’ve known a very long time.

Kelly McInnis was a high school classmate of mine at Ashland Community High School, MSAD No. 32. It was a consolidated high school with students coming from several different area communities. Portage Lake, where I grew up, was one of those communities.

Kelly, who still lives and works in The County, has a practiced eye when it comes to shooting photos. I seem to recall a photo of her from our high school yearbook, her red hair tied back and her wearing a baseball undershirt, the kind with the black three-quarter sleeves. In the photo, if I recall this correctly, she’s holding a 35-mm camera with which many of the other photos in the yearbook were shot.

But that was … holy, cow, about 30 years ago, so my memory may have faded a bit.

Anyway, Kelly shares here photos on Facebook and he graciously allows me to post them on “Letters From Away.”

Here’s Kelly McInnis’ campsite at Jo-Mary Lake Campground in the shadow of Mount Katahdin, the official end of the Appalachian Trail and the highest point in Maine. Photo by Kelly McInnis

Kelly was camping recently at Jo-Mary Lake Campground. The North Maine Woods Inc. at www.northmainewoods.org describes the amenities of the campground like this:

Sounds pretty plush for camping, but Kelly swears she roughed it by sleeping in a tent.

And there is Mount Katahdin, about 50 miles north of the Jo-Mary Lake Campground, according to the North Maine Woods Inc. website. Photo by Kelly McInnis

The campground is within the KI Jo-Mary Multiple Use Forest within 5 miles of the Appalachian Trial, with Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin, the highest point in Maine, just 50 miles to the north. I don’t recall ever going to this campground, but I would now if I had a chance. It appears to be a wonderful spot.

By the way, I believe Mount Katahdin is still considered the official northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, even though as a youth I heard Mars Hill was considered by some to be the end of the trail, as it were.

But earlier this summer I read a wire story about how a portion of the Appalachian Mountains actually may have been left behind on the European continent when the tectonic plates shifted.

Anyway, a couple of Kelly’s photos show Mount Katahdin in the background.

Here’s another shot of Mount Katahdin in the background and rock piles in the foreground. Kelly wasn’t sure who might have made the rock piles, perhaps bored children, she said. I think aliens from another planet may have had a hand – if they had hands, that is – in the creation of what I like to call Ancient Rock Towers of Maine’s North Woods. Photo by Kelly McInnis

Kelly didn’t know what the piled rocks were in some of the photos. Perhaps they are the product of a bored pack of children? Perhaps something more natural and mystical, such as the work of local native people? Perhaps something more mysterious still, such as the work of aliens from another planet? I think I’ll just call them the Ancient Rock Towers of Maine’s North Woods. I’m sure that will start showing up in search engines any day now.

Here’s another shot of the Ancient Rock Towers of Maine’s North Woods. Photo by Kelly McInnis

Another photo appears to be shot at the edge of a stream or other water source and shows the beginning of foliage changing. It has been a rather dry summer in Maine and some of the leaves are changing sooner than they normally would, as documented by Kelly’s photos and, well, my Mom. She said the same thing when I called her Sunday.

Kelly took this shot to show the beginning of the changing foliage. Maine has gone through a very dry summer and some of the leaves are changing sooner than they might have otherwise. It also shows a pretty typical opening in Maine’s North Woods – slightly boggy and surrounded by thick woods. Photo by Kelly McInnis

And there is a whimsical shot of a dedicated Maine fisherman.

Hey, buddy, whatcha usin’ for bait. Kelly’s response to that he was using the worm from the tequila bottle. Actually, the creation of the fisherman and the shooting of it with the camera both show a bit of dry Maine whimsy. Photo by Kelly McInnis

When Maine’s state park system was created by the legislature in 1935, it consisted of a single area of land. Since then, it has grown to more than forty diverse properties, from ocean and lake beaches to picnic areas and campgrounds to trail-laced mountains and lush forests. To celebrate the state parks’ seventy-fifth anniversary and to guide you to the place that suits your mood, here’s a play list — play as in walk, boat, swim, and splash. These suggestions are somewhat whimsical. Most parks are, after all, destinations for many different kinds of activities, not just the ones highlighted here. Find out more about an individual park’s natural features and facilities at the Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands Web site, www.maine.gov/doc/parks, or call the bureau at 207-287-3821 and ask for a brochure.

Back in the summers of 1962 and 1963, Bob Mercer signed on as a counselor at a boys camp in East Orland called Flying Moose Lodge.

For two summers, he led excursions into the wilds of Maine, from Baxter State Park to the Allagash to the Appalachian Trail.

After two years, he left Flying Moose Lodge.But Flying Moose Lodge never left him.

“There’s an ambiance about the place,” Mercer, a Bucksport resident, said earlier this week, revisiting his old stomping grounds as another season’s Flying Moosers (“strong and husky, here we gather, tanned and dusky,” according to a popular camp song) went about their daily business. “There’s a feeling that when you walk down the path, the world ended at the public beach, and this is a whole different world here. After 40 years, it still feels the same.”

[I don’t get this sort of thing. This guy is supposed to be an experienced hiker and he broke a couple of very basic rules, the worst of which was leaving the trail. Never ever leave the trail, especially if you are unfamiliar with the terrain. And hike with a partner so if you are hurt there is someone to help or go for help. I certainly hope that the state of Maine attempts to recoup the cost of the search from this moron. — KM]

[Perfect example of why hikers should NOT venture out alone, especially in areas they don’t know well. Granted, as a child, I hiked around the mountain that was my backyard, but I knew that mountain pretty well and I knew as long as I went downhill I would find the lake, a paved road, mill siding, or logging road. – KM]

FORT KENT, Maine — There is little chance the forests and wild lands of northern Maine can ever be returned to their pristine state, but a group of conservationists sees no reason they can’t be at least partially restored and protected for generations to come.

RESTORE: The North Woods has advocated the formation of a multimillion-acre park or preserve in north central Maine since 1994, and on Friday the group’s director discussed the plan with students, faculty and guests at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

“I can’t see another place in the United States where we could even be having this discussion,” said Jym St. Pierre, RESTORE director. “We are talking about 3 million-plus acres that could be acquired without disrupting people or communities.”

The area in question has long been the center of timber and logging operations in Maine going back to the early to mid-1800s when lumber from the great northern forest produced enough raw material to help Bangor become the lumber capital of the world.

Toward the middle and end of that century, the recreational value of the vast tracts of forests began to attract the likes of Henry David Thoreau and later Theodore Roosevelt, with the railroads billing it “America’s wilderness playground.”

In recent years Maine has tripled the amount of land set aside for conservattion. I really, really like the idea of protecting the land from development.

That said, there are some very interesting points raised in the comments section of the online story, mostly about accessibility and the loss of tax revenue. But protecting lands could mean new jobs in outdoor recreation, environmental education, etc.

There are several mentions in this story about how large paper and timber mills used to own much of the land and that those companies allowed access for recreational uses, including hunting, fishing and snowmobiling. I recall as a child stopping at a gate in the woods to be let onto those lands. Going through the gates meant being able to enjoy the outdoors.

Oh, and here’s a link to a Maine Public Broadcasting Network story about the acting state conservation commissioner offering to help the state close its budge gap. One of the things to be cut — a helicopter. And, according to the story, there’s already an offer for the helo.

In recent years Maine has tripled the amount of land set aside for conservattion. I really, really like the idea of protecting the land from development.

That said, there are some very interesting points raised in the comments section of the online story, mostly about accessibility and the loss of tax revenue. But protecting lands could mean new jobs in outdoor recreation, environmental education, etc.

There are several mentions in this story about how large paper and timber mills used to own much of the land and that those companies allowed access for recreational uses, including hunting, fishing and snowmobiling. I recall as a child stopping at a gate in the woods to be let onto those lands. Going through the gates meant being able to enjoy the outdoors.

Here’s the latest from DownEast.com’s trivia selection. I’m not sure “treehugger” is PC any longer, but what the heck. It is Maine, after all.

Who was Maine’s first treehugger?

Gov. Percival Baxter, who was considered something of a radical in the 1920s when he proposed a public park surrounding and protecting Mount Katahdin. Rejected by the legislature, Baxter used his own money to create his “forever wild” reserve. Today more than 60,000 people each year visit the two hundred thousand-acre Baxter State Park to enjoy the stunning beauty that his vision first recognized.

Mount Katahdin is the official northern tip of the Appalachian Trail, although some believe it actually goes to Mars Hill, Maine. My family went camping in Baxter State Park when The Sis and I were young. It was a fantastic adventure — hiking, skipping stones on water, watching the black bears wander into the park’s garbage dump for evening chow. As I recall, we may have stopped off at the Lumbermen’s Museum in Patten during the same trip.

Stuff about me

My name is Keith Michaud and this is “Letters From Away,” a blog written by a Mainer living outside the comfortable and sane confines of New England. The blog is intended for Mainers, whether they live in the Pine Tree State or beyond, and for anyone who has loved ’em, been baffled by ’em or both. Ayuh, I am “from away.” Worse still, I live on the Left Coast – in California. Enjoy! Or not. Your choice.